It is with great sadness that I lost one of my boars on Wednesday 17/5/17. He was euthanised at 7pm and suffered with some sort of blockage in his bowel with gas buildup. It was the week before this when he started to show signs of illness and on the 10th I took him to the vets, they presecribed two motility drugs, a painkiller and an antibiotic. His abdomen was tender and when they looked in his mouth the vet said there was a misalignment of his back teeth to the left side. The course of these drugs finished Sunday 14th. By Monday he was hardly moving at all. So I took him back to the vets, they gave him a general anaesthetic and sorted his teeth out. They restarted all the medications again but he just didn't pick up, still lethargic and not eating. I took him back on the Wednesday and they did an X-ray which showed a 'blockage' and gaseous buildup. I guess my question is when people say to you 'monitor very closely as guinea pigs can rapidly deteriorate' what timeframe are we talking about here? Because this situation has been the longest week of my life. Is it hours or days or weeks? Or is every guinea pig different? He was a big boy, he weighed (at his heaviest) 1.5kg. But also, how soon would you expect a guinea pig to 'pick up' when they are ill/have received treatment?

Though you provide all the information you have, it is difficult to know exactly what was happening, how the treatment helped or did not, and if there was more that could have been done (this is probably behind why you are asking). We as pet lovers do the best we can for our guinea pigs.

I don't know what signs of illness you saw the week before. If there was bloat, this is very serious, causes pain, and can interfere with eating. Not eating has its own problems and can contribute to malocclusion. We recommend weighing at least weekly and daily if illness is suspected. And being an observant owner. Hand feeding is vital (provided there is no blockage - the blockage, we don't know when it started and what caused it).

In some cases, seeing a vet within hours is required. In other cases, perhaps a few days. I think it depends on condition and the precise problem the guinea pig is experiencing.

I am so sorry for your lost. RIP wee one! Run free and popcorn in paradise. As to your questions it depends on the piggy and what is wrong with them. Hug your remaining piggy and remember the good times which in time will warm your heart.

Thank you for your responses. The week before, the first sign something wasn't right was when I put them out on the grass and he didn't come out of the little house all day, I went to 'wake him up' a couple times and he would come out and run around and through the tunnel (which he loved) and was purring. Then he would go back into the house.

That night I watched him at feeding time and he did seem interested he would snuffle in and around food but just wouldn't eat, he would occasionally pick something up in his mouth then drop it out again. The very few times I did see him eat it looked like he had something stuck in the side of his mouth as he would open his mouth to one side, if that makes sense? This is why I thought maybe he had something wrong with his teeth. -the vet actually said his teeth weren't too bad, however this is once they had anaesthetised him and had a really good look!

I didn't notice any bloat, however I've not seen it before. And Murle has always been a big boy so maybe he was but I just didn't realise. I know for a longtime he could never tolerate being sat upright for cutting his nails for example, maybe this position put pressure on his stomach? Also he suffered with impaction which we helped him out with regularly.